CHRISTMAS: THE EVE OF A JOURNEY

ANTICIPATING THE BIG DAY. For the first time in memory, I am looking forward not only to Christmas, but to the day beyond it. I can't wait for Christmas. And I can't wait for the day after Christmas. This year, Christmas will be the eve of a once-in-a-lifetime journey for me. On December 26, I embark on a once-in-a-lifetime journey to ride 2,000 miles across India.

FLIGHT TO EGYPT...OR INDIA? It's got me thinking: how quickly after Jesus' birth did his parents saddle up and head off to a foreign land? They left Bethlehem for Egypt to protect the Child from Herod's vow to kill the firstborn sons of Hebrew children in the Bethlehem area. Christ's birth takes me to a foreign land on December 26--not in flight from an oppressor but in hope of making real the promise God's healing mercy.

RIDE ALONG. Our effort is not only to raise funds to rebuild Umri Christian Hospital, but to talk with hundreds if not thousands of people along our 2,000-mile biking route about Umri and God's love expressed through it. Thank you for your prayers. I hope you will follow our progress at www.bikeindia.org, a website Dan Laughlin developed to help folks virtually ride along with us.